The Strength of Love
by HL13
Summary: Though she grew up with great friends, home life wasn't always the best for Beca Mitchell, and it's up to her friends, and a secret admirer, to help her realize that the strength of love is stronger than the strength of family. Disclaimer: I own nothing.


**Yes, An Accident, a Bought of Sickness, and an Unexpected Expectation will be updated soon. I've been busy and haven't been able to work on it lately. The only reason this is being posted is because this is my new project for people who don't like AA, ABOS, AAUE.**

* * *

They all grew up on the same block. They all went to the same school. They all were always there for each other.

The first ones to move onto the block were the twins Jesse and Jessica Swanson and their parents Tracy and Jonathan. They moved into a small two-story navy blue house in the middle of one side of the block.

A few weeks later, the two adopted kids Luke and Patricia Amy "Fat Amy" Wilson and their parents Don and Margret moved in next door - right next door - into the small one story yellow house in the corner to the left of the Swanson residence.

Then another set of adopted kids moved in next to the Wilson's. Cynthia Rose, Donald and Lily Welsh and their parents Shawn and Michelle.

Next to the Welsh's came Billy "Bumper" Allen and his mother Sally, into the next house on the corner.

Then, Ashley, Michael "Unicycle", and Thomas "Hat" Dean moved in next to the Allen's.

When she was three, Chloe Beale and her six older brothers; Cody, Charlie, Chase, the twins Caiden and Camden, and the second youngest Carter, they were all redheads; and their parents Arnold and Paula moved into the big house on the corner next to the Dean's.

Shortly after, the twins Aubrey and Stacie Posen, their two older brothers Ryan and Kyle, and their parents Aaron and Erin moved into the large two-story light blue house next to the Beale's.

Just before her fourth birthday, the youngest of the large group and glue of the group, moved into the last corner house between the Posen's and the Swanson's on a hot, sunny day at the end of July. Her name was Rebecca Mitchell, but she insisted on being called Beca. Her parents were Warren and Samantha. The day they moved in, the entire block came to help them move in. Beca was quick to find the other kids and start playing with them.

Even at their age, all the children were very knowledgeable about music and liked to sing and dance for their parents. In no time, all the parents were great friends, even opting to take down the fences separating their yards. The field that had been derived from it was subjected to many games of soccer, football, and volleyball, their parents even putting up nets, a sand pit for volleyball, and the Posen's even got a pool for the children, which was very popular for large pool parties on hot days.

Everything was fun until tragedy happened the summer before seventh grade, when the group was starting to turn thirteen, well Beca was barely twelve her birthday being August 9th. Nobody really noticed that Warren and Samantha were having problems, but it was there. Beca was subjected to many nights of screaming matches between the two. Her father was cheating on Samantha with some blonde bimbo named Sheila that worked in the English department at the same college that Warren worked at.

The day after Beca's twelfth birthday, Warren moved out.

Her mother was crushed and all the parents took to comforting Sam and bringing by homemade meals for the two. Sally was especially helpful having going through it shortly after Bumper was born.

Beca was worse.

She locked herself in her room, opting to drown herself in music and mixing then talk to anyone. Everyone from her mother, her friends, and her friends' parents tried to get her to come out and talk with them, but Beca was stubborn. After a week she was done crying, a week later her walls were a hundred miles high.

Finally, two girls got into her room. Chloe and Stacie were Beca's best friends. It was about two and half weeks after her father's abrupt leaving, Beca had forgotten to throw the lock after going to the bathroom that morning. The two girls, sick of knocking and pleading for Beca to open the door, immediately tried the door. When it opened, they were beyond ecstatic, thinking today was the day they were finally getting Beca to open up and talk to someone. They were hit with the strong stench of sweat and filth. Beca was sitting at her desk on her laptop covered in a large hoodie and sweatpants with a blanket on her shoulders even though it had to be at least 75 degrees in the room and, still to this day, Stacie could swear you could see the rays of stench radiate off of her. Her room was messy and trashed broken picture frames scattering the room. The girls touched Beca's shoulders, scaring the small girl and making her whip around her chair. The tiny DJ didn't say anything, instead gesturing to the large messy bed covered in clothes, sweat, tears, old photos, and, laying right on the pillow, the necklace her father gave her the day before he left, it was a simple heart shaped locket with a picture of Beca and Warren in one side and Beca and Samantha on the other. The girls tried without success to get Beca to talk to them. After a while, they gave up and dragged Beca into the bathroom for a shower. Beca was silently refusing to, so the two, having no personal boundaries, stripped her down.

That was the day they discovered the cuts.

Many cuts laced up and down Beca's legs. They also saw how incredibly thin she was, but, according to her mom, she really didn't eat much. Not saying anything, just exchanging conserned looks, Stacie threw Beca into the shower and turned the water on, refusing to leave until Beca no longer stunk, while Chloe went to Beca's room and cleaned up the whole space, leaving no broken glass or filthy clothes, which Chloe gave to Samantha to wash.

The girls left Beca after, without a single word from her.

Nobody saw Beca again until the end of summer party the block was having the night before the first day of school. Needless to say, everyone was shocked when Beca walked out of her back door dressed in dark jean capris and a black lace V-neck tank top, her used-to-be chocolate brown hair was now at least one if not two shades darker and had a nice curl to the end, and her eyes were heavily rimmed in black. Jesse was first to come out of shock, running to tackle her a large hug. He was closely followed by Chloe and then the rest of the gang, the older siblings, and even the parents. Beca just stood there, not moving or reacting, and everyone noticed. The parents were confused and left to talk about what may be wrong with the small brunette. The kids were clueless, and tried to get their young friend to laugh, talk, anything, but Beca held tight. At the end of the night, when Beca still hadn't talked, the parents came to a conclusion.

Beca had gone mute.

That night, when each family had gone back to their respected houses, their parents sat down their kids and told them to give Beca time, and that she had gone mute, and she wouldn't get better if they kept pushing themselves on her.

The next day, Beca had been dressed similarly, in dark capris, a black lace V-neck t-shirt, and black sandals. Her hair was back into an intricate braid and she had even more black gunk (as Aubrey called it) ringing her navy eyes. Her locket was hanging from her neck and a leather bracelet adorned her left wrist. A black and red messenger bag hung on her shoulder. The most surprising though, were her ears, not only were her small birthstone earrings in, but there was also a small silver stud in the top of her right ear.

It wasn't until the last day of eight grade that they heard Beca talk again.

Two years of silence had made a big impact on the now almost fourteen year old and everyone surrounding her. Though they had seen her grow up in that time, they also saw how much more vulnerable the small DJ was to the world around her. The simple "I'm going to miss middle school" that came out of Beca's mouth scratchy and hoarse was enough for everyone to let out a soft "awe" and tackle her for a hug, but it was also enough for everyone to start crying, especially her mother. Her friend's eyes lit up at the sound of her voice, especially Aubrey's who was harboring a secret as long as Beca had been mute.

Aubrey had been dealing with her new-found sexuality since seventh grade, even carrying around a crush on the tiny alt-girl, but in the confusion after Beca's father Warren had left, she hadn't told anyone. With Beca finally talking again, the blonde hoped to get closer to her and find out if the short brunette had any similar feelings for her.


End file.
